Successful Keyword Research and Usage

Successful search engine optimisation (SEO), which addresses optimising your site for better visibility and ranking in search engines, starts with finding and using the right keywords and key phrases. Effective keyword research lays the foundation for effective SEO results and can help you kick-start a successful ranking process for your site.

Research Keywords

: The way you think about your organisation or business may be very different from how the average web user thinks about it. It is therefore essential to go for words and phrases your potential site visitors are actually using to find information on the web.

• Make a list of keywords and key phrases searchers may use to find your website.
• Check the keywords and key phrases your competitors are using in their page titles, meta descriptions and content and learn from them.
• Free keyword research tools such as Google's AdWords Keyword Tool and SEO Book's Keyword Suggestion Tool come in handy in researching keywords and key phrases searchers are using to find a subject matter.

Test your keywords and phrases in the search engines – Google, Yahoo and Bing – to see how the returned pages rank. With the relevance of the keywords to your site in mind, choose keywords that rank best.

Integrate Applicable Keywords into Your Website

You can choose the keywords for your site according to the following criteria.

• Strong relevance to your site: Make sure that the content on your website supports the keywords and key phrases.
• Relatively high search volume: Ensure that you choose terms searchers are actually looking for.
• Relatively low competition: It is advisable to go for terms with a small number of search results, because this will offer you better visibility – your site won't be a needle in a haystack.

Place Keywords Strategically

• Page Title: The page title appears at the top-right of your browser. Make sure your page title accurately describes the content of the web page.
• Page headings and Sub-heading: Include some keywords and key phrases as well as synonyms in your headings and sub-headings.
• Link text: Make sure your outbound links include some of your keywords.
• Healthy amount in the body text: It's common practice to have the main keywords and key phrases in the first and last 25 words on a web page.

Avoid Keyword Stuffing

Don't over do it! Some search engines can discover keyword stuffing on a page and blacklist your site.

Keyword Review and Maintenance: Keyword research and optimisation is an ongoing process that needs constant reviewing and tweaking as necessary.

As search terms can change from time to time. Maintaining ongoing keyword research is essential for successful SEO.